Mayor Mitch Landrieu heads Uptown Tuesday (Aug. 26) to field questions and complaints from constituents in City Council District B, the fourth such gathering he has hosted as his administration crafts its 2015 spending plan.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in Touro Synagogue at 4238 St. Charles Ave. People can speak with city officials one-on-one before the meeting.

Check back here as NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune will be covering the discussion as it happens.

8:07 p.m.: Landrieu wrapped up the meeting.

7:58 p.m.: Landrieu laid the plight of senior centers at the foot of the federal government not providing the funding for it, and the state for refusing Medicaid payments and other services. It's become the city responsibility, he said.

"The federal government is retaining the power to tell you what to do and the state is retaining the power to tax and spend but they are pushing all the cost to you," Landrieu said. "That is a prescription of disconnection and alienation."

He then turns on the Legislature about the firefighters pension fund. He wants it under city control so that the state can't force the city to pay without having a say on its investments or management.

7:57 p.m.: On people sitting on neutral grounds: "If they're not violating the law, I don't think we can move them," Landrieu said.

7:55 p.m.: Landrieu said he wants state inmates out of OPP, and said the sheriff is the only one who can move them.

7:48 p.m.: Taxes. Landrieu says there's a 97-98 percent collection rate on property taxes. A lot of people are self-correcting, he said, but pointed out that there are some 'structural inequities in the system.'

Not-for-profits -- churches, universities, things that do good for people that call themselves not-for-profits -- we agree not to tax them. But there's a 'gray area' where some nonprofits that aren't banned from commercial activities are not paying taxes on their activities.

He also said he wants to sell all the surplus public properties in the city that's not being used. The fire station on Wisner that's going to be a coffee shop he uses as an example of a sale and renovation.

Landrieu makes his pitch again for the constitutional amendment to put a new tax on the ballot for police and fire protection services.

The mayor said they're checking the constitutionality of a parcel fee for street repairs -- and said that it's something the administration will explore.

7:46 p.m.: Crime cameras. Landrieu said he quit funding them because they weren't working. Adds that private cameras actually see more and noted work being done to coordinate them in neighborhoods.

7:43 p.m.: Landrieu turns to his blight policy. Said remember what blight is - somebody else owns that property and walked away from their responsibility. When you want us to go after it, that takes money away from the recreation department and other services.

"In America, it's not easy to take somebody's private property away from them and they're certainly not going to give it to you," he said.

7:40 p.m.: Landrieu talks about the money he may have to spend to fix Orleans Parish Prison:

"Do you want to build more jail cells, or do you want a more robust NORD (Recreation Department), because you've got one dollar," Landrieu said. "It's a zero-sum game: and you have to think about how you want to spend it.

"I think we have enough jail space. I don't think we need to build a bigger prison. I tell you I may be on the short end of that stick. Because I've got a federal court case and federal courts are powerful..."

7:37 p.m.: Economic development: it's unacceptable that 52 percent of African American men are not employed. "That is a devastatingly bad number for any city, and by the way, we're not the only one," Landrieu said.

Adds that Standard & Poors said that income inequality is slowing economic growth in every sector.

Brings up his 'pathways to prosperity' program that promotes public sector jobs, such as those with the Sewerage & Water Board, the new airport terminal and the new hospitals going up in Mid-City.

7:29 p.m.: Landrieu talks about homelessness. Says the audience has a conflict it needs to resolve among its members. Talking about the encampment being a mess versus complaints that the city council's decision to target tents is unconstitutional.

Singles out Unity, the advocacy group for homeless people, for its good work. Said 86 individuals found room in shelters.

"It had nothing to do with the Saints game," he said about the encampment clearing. Said it took two months to plan and he said it had nothing to do with anything except being a public health threat for the people living there.

Talks about putting a tent on public property: "Unless until the council considers making that law a little more strict, as long as its in constitutional bounds, the city can't take any action."

The city can't move the group out there now because they're keeping it cleaner than before. Unless it's a public health threat, there's nothing the city can do, Landrieu said. That would change if the council changes the law.

7:27 p.m.: Economic development and growth coming into the city has increased by 9.6 percent. The rest of the nation grew at 2.3 percent, Landrieu said.

Goes into bad news - Landrieu said there's not enough money to cover the gap in budget for street repairs, funding the Orleans Parish Prison reform, the firefighters pension fund and the NOPD consent decree.

"It's about making decisions between what you want what you need and what you're willing to pay for," Landrieu said.

7:21 p.m. Landrieu takes mic to respond to the questions and comments. Thanks the audience for being reasonable and thanks city employees for their dedication.

First up is his response to the question about starting the budget process early and why he hasn't done it. It's a question that comes up at every one of these budget hearings and it's pretty clear that it frustrates Landrieu. He reaches back to what his administration had set up from last term. Implementing quarterly budget review meetings, balancing the books and the budget every month, and set up community meetings before preparing the budget.

He chastised the group who asks the question at every meeting for leaving before he could answer it.

He holds up a folder that he says has everyone's comments going back four years. He said they're loaded into a database. And he uses that to present a budget to the council on Oct. 15.

Then the council can have its own public hearings, he points out.

7:14 p.m.: Speaker worried about Thalia and St. Charles corner, where she said nefarious activity outside a taqueria happens there - including the shooting of a tourist coming off a streetcar.

7:10 p.m.: Speaker: "Mr. Mayor, where is the 'submerged streets' money?" And what about streetlights?

Landrieu - when Katrina hit and there was federal money for streets, we as a city chose to do major streets. Now people complain that it's hard to get around because there's so much construction going on.

The submerged roads program has been underway for the past four or five years, mayor says.

$224 million planned or invested in District B. 23 Streets finished.

Fourth Phase of Magazine Street will get started soon and O.C Haley Boulevard is underway.

Mayor: I did not say we have the money to do 'interior streets,' those smaller neighborhood streets. Talks of 'Fix Our Streets' movement as worthwhile, but wants the audience to remember that one mile equals $7 million to complete.

Over 1,500 miles of streets in the city, Landrieu said.

6:57 p.m.: Streetlights on St. Charles, from Carrollton to Napoleon, need to be fixed, speaker said. Also complained that 311 isn't reachable on weekends. Then called for better economic development.

Landrieu responded, saying some statements were inaccurate. Streetlights - "The council has worked with the city to now have a sustainable source of funding to retrofit the streetlights in the city of New Orleans." St. Charles Avenue will be done in mid-September.

Praises the council for putting money aside for streetlights. But he did hint that a long-term funding source doesn't exist and that work is being done on that.

311 - Landrieu acknowledges its not available on the weekends, but emergencies can be alerted to 911. Maintenance issues can be brought up during the week.

6:51 p.m.: Rachel Wulff, the former newscaster, asking the mayor to clean up crime, public drunkenness and prostitution in Broadmoor. Said she is grateful for police foot patrols and private crime cameras.

6:49 p.m.: Next speaker thanks Cantrell for fixing her streetlight outside her house, then calls for more support for the public defenders office, pointing out it's a little ironic that she would be following the DA.

6:45 p.m.: Landrieu takes the unusual step of giving the floor to Leon Cannizzaro, the district attorney who is also running for reelection. He talks about cooperation between different aspects of the city's criminal justice system. He then begins extolling RICO cases his office has brought on gangs in Uptown.

He then asks for witnesses to come forward or for residents to keep watch on their neighborhoods.

"Our efforts are improveing and our greatest asset our greatest ally in going after the criminal element, believe it or not, is you," he said.

He then promotes his office's diversion program. "We will essentially give you a pass" on prosecution if you can stay on the program and off of drugs.

"I ask for your continued support and I ask for your prayers," Cannizzaro said as he wrapped up what sounded a lot like a stump speech. "I think with this council and this mayor we're going in the right direction."

6:40 p.m.: Speaker asking about the homeless community under the interstate "at the mouth of Central City." Worried about the "clearing out" of that encampment on the eve of Saints season. Says there are inequitable services for homeless people in New Orleans.

She finished off asking about crime cameras vs. speed cameras.

"I'm a little confused about those crime cameras when those ticket cameras work so well," she said.

6:34 p.m.: Speaker asks what the city plans to do to support the arts when little public funding is set aside to aid the "cultural economy."

6:30 p.m.: David Capasso, erstwhile candidate for District A, takes a few swings at Gov. Bobby Jindal. Asks, sarcastically, what he's done for New Orleans, especially considering there's a competing meeting going on right now discussing Common Core curriculum, which Jindal is railing against.

6:28 p.m.: District B resident Donald Vallee advocating for a parcel fee on properties to create a dedicated revenue stream for police and fire, but offsetting taxes to make sure it's not a double tax.

6:25 p.m.: Speaker irate that the City Council is considering outlawing tents at homeless encampments. He threatens to camp outside Cantrell's house.

"I will do it, and with a tent!" he said.

6:22 p.m.: Next speaker thanks Landrieu and Office of Neighborhood Engagement for an NCBI grant to help teach English as a second language.

6:18 p.m.: Speaker calls for resurrecting and salvaging the city's defunct crime camera program -- at least the hardware around the city. That program became an albatross for the Nagin administration.

6:18 p.m.: Next speaker wants to know why part of the 2nd Police District was moved into the 6th Police District.

6:17 p.m.: Central City advocate Michael Robinson talking about an initiative to clear some blighted lots, asks for publicity about the lots maintenance program.

6:13 p.m.: New NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison introduces himself, said we're working on three things:

Manpower

Morale for the police department

Murder and violent crime reduction

6:11 p.m.: Judges and candidates are sprinkled throughout the audience. Qualifying for Nov. 4 ended Friday.

6:07 p.m.: Councilman Jason Williams thanks everyone for letting him listen. Councilwoman Stacy Head tells the crowd she wants to move more properties onto the tax rolls. She said more than 50 percent aren't on the rolls - from government properties to nonprofits not paying rent (I think she means PILOT, or payments in lieu of taxes). Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, who represents District B, laid down the rules of engagement, asked for politeness and offered various sundries that came to her office to give to constituents. These included, and I missed a few items, shoes, water and mouthwash.

5:57 p.m.: The crowd is slowly working its way into the seats of Touro Synagogue as officials handshake their way to the front. Meeting should start shortly.